8/26/2013
Cottage Grove Speedway
Ellertson, Culp, Ashley, And Swaim Victory Lane Visitors At CGS
Ellertson, Culp, Ashley, And Swaim Victory Lane Visitors At CGS
By Ben Deatherage
(Photos Courtesy of Madman Photography)
Some good racing was on tap for the Cottage Grove Speedway on Saturday night. The August 24th racing card would consist of the Northwest Extreme Sprints, Late Models, Street Stocks, and Hornets all on the card. The winner’s circle at the end of the night would see its fair share of new faces as well as repeat winners.
Fall Creek’s Nathan Ellertson was in dominant form in the Northwest Extreme Sprint feature. The driver of the 4 His Glory Racing/1st Choice Construction/Bear Racing Components #4E Rocket would lead the main event from the get go. Ellertson would be challenged a handful of times but he kept all challengers in check. It would mark Ellertson’s first ever win at the Cottage Grove Speedway as it would be all smiles in victory lane.
Vern Scevers of La Pine, driving the Casey’s Family Restaurant/Paint By Tyson #15R Maxim would end his evening in second followed by the Redmond Trucking #57 Rocket of Dusty Redmond from Roseburg. Eugene’s Raquel Ivie recovered from an early race spin to finish her Three Rivers Casino/Northwest Training Center/Bi-Mart #70 Maxim in fourth while Terry Hall of Dallas would place his Hall Transcribing/Washington Street Steakhouse #10T Rocket in fifth.
In the Hornet feature it appeared Mike Simmons in his Industrial Finishes/Bill’s Automotive #34 would be the car to beat. Simmons opened up a sizable lead early in the feature, while the battle on the race track was for second between Friday night feature winner, in the Big Dog Recycling #17 truck, of Taunton Swaim from Dexter and current point leader Joe Maricle of Veneta in his Ram Jack Foundation Repair #11. Swaim would eventually be able to create some distance between himself and Maricle, but Simmons’ lead was only getting bigger.
Slower traffic would eventually come into play and Taunton Swaim would take full advantage of it inching his way closer to the #34 of Simmons. Just Inside five laps to go Swaim would catch Simmons and make the pass holding on for the win to make it two nights in a row in victory lane.
Mike Simmons would finish second followed by Joe Maricle in third. Fourth would belong to the Material Fabrication #28 of Chris Peirce from Cottage Grove and rounding out the top five was K.C. Scott in the Dalton Carpet/T.L. Morgan Motors #30 from Springfield.
The Street Stocks hosted a very competitive field of cars as Larry Crane in the, Froggy's Towing/Bird Tracs Embroidery #16K Camaro, would be the early race leader. He would be overtaken moments by the Nathan Anderson Dentistry/Platinum Hair of Creswell #73 Nova of Darin Crooks from Cottage Grove.
The Pure Romance-Leslie Grimes/S.D.M.F. Race Cars/ Brad’s Car Tunes #01 Camaro of Jake Mayden would on Crooks after working his way through traffic. Crooks and Mayden would have a good battle for the lead with the outcome being the #01 as the new race leader. Mayden would develop a large lead and win the race but unfortunately after the post-race inspection Mayden would have to forfeit his win giving it to Jasper’s Ricky Ashley in the T.J. Langan owned Taco Bell-Cottage Grove/D&L Truck Parts #85 entry.
Kelly McDonald of Cottage Grove, driving the Tom Langan owned D&L Truck Parts#74, would come in second followed by Darin Crooks in third. Finishing in fourth was the Stacy Graves Massage Therapy/Nathan Anderson Dentistry #00 of Eugene’s Steve Begley and rounding out the top five was Cottage Grove youngster Dusten Henderson in fifth in his Fountain Gutter/White Water Well Drilling #0½ Camaro.
In the Late Model division Chuck Christian of Eugene was the early race leader and built a good size lead in the early stages of the race. The chauffeur, Christian, of the Redwood Northwest/Colleen’s One Stop Bird Shop/Eco-Machine Technologies #422 GRT would find himself battling with the likes of Paul Culp for the much desired top spot.
Culp, from Springfield, would get the lead just before the completion the tenth circuit. He then would pace the field the rest of the way and pick up the win. It would be Culp’s second win in his X-Factor Race Cars/Northwest Gallery #42 X-Factor and his first triumph since winning the season opener back in April.
Chuck Christian was a respectable second followed by third place finisher Shaun Mayea of Bend in his Cold Springs Resort/R.G. Remanufacturing/Driving Force Graphics #36 Rocket. Crossing the start/finish line in fourth would be the Gary Wilson Racing Engines/Quantum Mechanics #03 Swartz of Kevin Ropchan out of Veneta and in fifth was Tanner Wines of Lebanon in the Pickle Trucking/Kartco Racing #77 MasterSbilt driving for car owner Kris Pickle.
The Cottage Grove Speedway will be quite busy next weekend. Friday August 30th will kick things off with the always entertaining Kage Karts. Saturday August 31st and Sunday September 1st will see the return of the Cottage Grove Speedway Wingless Nationals presented by Herz Precision Parts. This event will feature the Northwest Wingless Tour for the biggest Non-Wing Sprint race in the Pacific Northwest.
Support classes for both nights will include IMCA Modified and the Pro-4’s. Don’t forget that on Wednesday September 4th the World of Outlaw Sprints will be back after a year hiatus. The support class on this evening will be the DIRTcar Super Late Models as they compete for a $1,000.00 to win main event. For more information be sure and log on to www.cottagegrovespeedway.com or call the Northwest Hotline at (360)-699-RACE.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage
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